NHL Gives Term 'Black Friday' New Meaning

BOSTON—North Station should have been a sea of black and gold on Friday, with fans getting ready for a day-after-Thanksgiving matinee between the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. As those fans arrived at the transportation hub beneath TD Garden, they should have been streaming into Boston Bruins Proshop and leaving with full bags of goodies for themselves and the hockey fans on their holiday shopping list. Black Friday and a Bruins game—it should have been a bonanza.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Thanks for nothing, NHL lockout. On a day meant to be about the sweet ring of cash registers, the league canceled all regular-season games through Dec. 14, plus the All-Star festivities that had been scheduled for Columbus in January. Earlier, the scene in Boston was emblematic of the apathy that should be the NHL's top concern as the lockout continues.